Willie Brown

Willie Brown (20 March 1934-) was Mayor of San Francisco (D) from 8 January 1996 to 8 January 2004, succeeding Frank Jordan and preceding Gavin Newsom. He also served in the California State Assembly from 1964 to 1995.

Biography
Willie Brown was born in Mineola, Texas in 1934, and he graduated from San Francisco State University in 1955 and from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1958. He spent several years in private practice before being elected to the California State Assembly in 1964, and he became their whip in 1969 and their speaker in 1980. He was able to manage colleagues and maintain party discipline, and he became one of the country's most powerful state legislators. In 1990, term limits for the State Assembly were implemented to counter Brown's power, and the Republican Party won a slim majority during the last of his three terms, although he managed to win the votes of several Republicans, keeping the Democratic Party in power.

From 1996 to 2004, Brown served as Mayor of San Francisco, and his term saw a significant increase in real estate development, public works, city beautification, and other large-scale city projects, the rapid expansion of the city's economy during the "dot-com" era, and the inclusion of Asians, women, Hispanics, gays, and African-Americans in the most diverse city government so far. He increased the funding of Muni public transportation by millions of dollars, and he also ended the city's policy of punishing people for feeding the homeless. His political protege Gavin Newsom succeeded him as Mayor, and he became a fundraiser and political adviser.